After 2 years of living in her six-story, 38,000-square-foot Shanghai mansion, Mattel’s iconic American doll Barbie is moving out.

The Shanghai flagship store, which featured a spa, a cosmetics counter, and a cocktail bar, was launched in March 2009 (Barbie’s 50th birthday) in an attempt to expand the market into China. However sales failed to meet expectations and the firm was forced to cut its targets within the first eight months of the store’s existence.

Mattel is taking a positive spin on the situation, claiming that the store “served its purpose and was meant only to establish Barbie’s brand in China”. Barbie will soon be jumping in her “Barbie Pink Bus” to head on tour in the near future, a spokeswoman said, declining to disclose further details.

In the meantime, Barbie is still being sold in other shopping outlets across China.

A notice announcing Barbie’s new “mobile” lifestyle in China after her Shanghai mansion went into foreclosure can be found here.

I personally think a lot of these Western companies enter China’s market with an overly optimistic outlook and ambitious goals. To see what I’m talking about, Just take a look at the photo gallery after the jump.Continue reading »